13-June-2023
Welcome to the weekly threat detection update report from Stamus Networks. Each week, you will receive this email with a summary of the updates.
Current Stamus Threat Intelligence (STI) release version: 768
This week, in addition to daily ruleset and IOC updates, we provided Stamus Security Platform customers with the following improved defense(s):
Note: a "method" as referenced below, is a discrete detection vector for a given threat.
The following detections were added to your Stamus Security Platform (SSP) this past week:
This article introduces a MaaS-type loader we saw some time ago. It is called PureCrypter. It is very active this year. It has promoted more than 10 other families and used hundreds of C2s. Because zscaler has done a detailed sample analysis, this article mainly introduces the PureCrypter communication activities we have seen from the perspective of C2 and the communication chain, and analyzes its operation process. Net360
WhiteSnake is an information-stealing malware that extracts a range of sensitive information from infected computers. The threat actors who developed WhiteSnake sell their malware on a hacker forum. This malware can be purchased for varying durations of access, with prices ranging from $120 for one month to $1500 for lifetime access. Pcrisk
WhiteSnake - Microsoft | WhiteSnake - Bleepingcomputer |
The term info stealer is self-explanatory. This type of malware resides in an infected computer and gathers data in order to send it to the attacker. Typical targets are credentials used in online banking services, social media sites, emails, or FTP accounts.
Info stealers may use many methods of data acquisition. The most common are:
hooking browsers (and sometimes other applications) and stealing credentials that are typed by the user using web injection scripts that are adding extra fields to web forms and submitting information from them to a server owned by the attacker form grabbing (finding specific opened windows and stealing their content) keylogging stealing passwords saved in the system and cookies Modern info stealers are usually parts of botnets. Sometimes the target of attack and related events are configured remotely by the command sent from the Command and Control server (C&C). Malwarebytes
Adware.Sogou is Malwarebytes' detection name for adware that primarily targets Chinese users. Sogou is the name of one of the main search engines in China.
Adware.Sogou started out as a Browser Helper Object for Internet Explorer but has adapted to the market for online searches by expanding to other browsers and Operating Systems. It shows advertisements in the form of popups.
Adware.Sogou is usually installed by bundlers. Malwarebytes
Sogou - Microsoft |
LgoogLoader is an installer that drops three files: a batch file, an AutoIt interpreter, and an AutoIt script. After downloading, it executes the batch file.Malpedia
LgoogLoader - Microsoft |
BellaCiao is classified as dropper malware, which means it is intended to distribute other malware payloads onto a victim's computer system according to instructions from a C2 server. The payload delivered by BellaCiao is not downloaded but rather hardcoded into the executable as malformed base64 strings and then unloaded when needed.
BellaCiao communicates with a DNS server controlled by the attacker, which sends malicious hard-coded instructions via an IP address that imitates the victim's actual IP address. This leads to the deployment of additional malware through hard-coded instructions rather than through a typical download.
The attack chain may result in the installation of a web shell that allows for arbitrary file uploads and downloads, as well as command execution, depending on the resolved IP address. In the security industry, the group responsible for the BellaCiao malware is recognized as Charming Kitten.
BellaCiao - Bitdefender |
Group-IB analysis discovered that the initial access vector for the campaign of Dark Pink (name given by Group-IB) was targeted spear-phishing emails, and the core goal of the threat actors, who leverage an almost-entirely custom toolkit, is corporate espionage, as they attempt to exfiltrate files, microphone audio, and messenger data from infected devices and networks. Group-IB, in line with its zero-tolerance policy to cybercrime, has issued proactive notifications to all potential and confirmed targets of Dark Pink.
BellaCiao - Malpedia | BellaCiao - EclecticIQ |
Kaspersky experts have uncovered a new mobile APT campaign while monitoring the network traffic of its corporate Wi-Fi network using the Kaspersky Unified Monitoring and Analysis Platform (KUMA). Upon further analysis, company researchers discovered the threat actor has been targeting iOS devices of dozens of company employees.
The investigation of the attack technique is still ongoing, but so far Kaspersky researchers were able to identify the general infection sequence. The victim received a message via iMessage with an attachment containing a zero-click exploit. Without any further interaction, the message triggered a vulnerability that led to code execution for privilege escalation and provided full control over the infected device. Once the attacker successfully established its presence in the device, the message was automatically deleted.
Further, the spyware quietly transmitted private information to remote servers: including microphone recordings, photos from instant messengers, geolocation and data about a number of other activities of the owner of the infected device.
Operation Triangulation - Bleepingcomputer |
The following detections were updated this past week with changes to kill chain phase(s) or MITRE ATT&CK tactic(s)/technique(s):
APT29 is threat group that has been attributed to the Russian government and has operated since at least 2008. This group reportedly compromised the Democratic National Committee starting in the summer of 2015. MITRE
APT38 is a financially-motivated threat group that is backed by the North Korean regime. The group mainly targets banks and financial institutions and has targeted more than 16 organizations in at least 13 countries since at least 2014.
North Korean group definitions are known to have significant overlap, and the name Lazarus Group is known to encompass a broad range of activity. Some organizations use the name Lazarus Group to refer to any activity attributed to North Korea. Some organizations track North Korean clusters or groups such as Bluenoroff, APT37, and APT38 separately, while other organizations may track some activity associated with those group names by the name Lazarus Group. MITRE
Malware of this family uses advertising as its main monetization method. The malware uses different methods to display as many ads as possible to the user, including by installing new adware.
These Trojans can get root privileges in order to hide in the system folder, which makes the Trojans very difficult to remove. Kaspersky
The term info stealer is self-explanatory. This type of malware resides in an infected computer and gathers data in order to send it to the attacker. Typical targets are credentials used in online banking services, social media sites, emails, or FTP accounts.
Info stealers may use many methods of data acquisition. The most common are:
hooking browsers (and sometimes other applications) and stealing credentials that are typed by the user using web injection scripts that are adding extra fields to web forms and submitting information from them to a server owned by the attacker form grabbing (finding specific opened windows and stealing their content) keylogging stealing passwords saved in the system and cookies Modern info stealers are usually parts of botnets. Sometimes the target of attack and related events are configured remotely by the command sent from the Command and Control server (C&C). Malwarebytes
Cobalt Strike is a commercial, full-featured, penetration testing tool which bills itself as “adversary simulation software designed to execute targeted attacks and emulate the post-exploitation actions of advanced threat actors”. Cobalt Strike’s interactive post-exploit capabilities cover the full range of ATT&CK tactics, all executed within a single, integrated system.
In addition to its own capabilities, Cobalt Strike leverages the capabilities of other well-known tools such as Metasploit and Mimikatz. MITRE
Gamaredon Group is a threat group that has been active since at least 2013 and has targeted individuals likely involved in the Ukrainian government. The name Gamaredon Group comes from a misspelling of the word "Armageddon", which was detected in the adversary's early campaigns. MITRE
IIS Raid is a native IIS module that abuses the extendibility of IIS to backdoor the web server and carry out custom actions defined by an attacker. Github
The newest version of OxtaRAT is a polyglot file, which combines compiled AutoIT script and an image. The tool capabilities include searching for and exfiltrating files from the infected machine, recording the video from the web camera and desktop, remotely controlling the compromised machine with TightVNC, installing a web shell, performing port scanning, and more. Check Point Research
A Trojan horse or Trojan is a type of malware that is often disguised as legitimate software. Trojans can be employed by cyber-thieves and hackers trying to gain access to users' systems. Users are typically tricked by some form of social engineering into loading and executing Trojans on their systems. Once activated, Trojans can enable cyber-criminals to spy on you, steal your sensitive data, and gain backdoor access to your system. Kaspersky
Remote Access Trojans are programs that provide the capability to allow covert surveillance or the ability to gain unauthorized access to a victim PC. Remote Access Trojans often mimic similar behaviors of keylogger applications by allowing the automated collection of keystrokes, usernames, passwords, screenshots, browser history, emails, chat lots, etc. Remote Access Trojans differ from keyloggers in that they provide the capability for an attacker to gain unauthorized remote access to the victim machine via specially configured communication protocols which are set up upon initial infection of the victim computer. This backdoor into the victim machine can allow an attacker unfettered access, including the ability to monitor user behavior, change computer settings, browse and copy files, utilize the bandwidth (Internet connection) for possible criminal activity, access connected systems, and more. Malwarebytes
Redline Stealer is a malware available on underground forums for sale apparently as standalone versions or also on a subscription basis. This malware harvests information from browsers such as saved credentials, autocomplete data, and credit card information. A system inventory is also taken when running on a target machine, to include details such as the username, location data, hardware configuration, and information regarding installed security software. More recent versions of Redliune added the ability to steal cryptocurrency. FTP and IM clients are also apparently targeted by this family, and this malware has the ability to upload and download files, execute commands, and periodically send back information about the infected computer. Malpedia
Check Point Research identified an ongoing surveillance operation targeting a Southeast Asian government. The attackers use spear-phishing to gain initial access and leverage old Microsoft Office vulnerabilities together with the chain of in-memory loaders to attempt and install a previously unknown backdoor on victim’s machines. Checkpoint
Adversaries may delete, alter, or send SMS messages without user authorization. This could be used to hide C2 SMS messages, spread malware, or various external effects. This can be accomplished by requesting the RECEIVE_SMS or SEND_SMS permissions depending on what the malware is attempting to do. If the app is set as the default SMS handler on the device, the SMS_DELIVER broadcast intent can be registered, which allows the app to write to the SMS content provider. The content provider directly modifies the messaging database on the device, which could allow malicious applications with this ability to insert, modify, or delete arbitrary messages on the device. MITRE
It leverages compromised websites and performs some of the most creative fingerprinting checks we’ve seen, before delivering its payload (NetSupport RAT). Malwarebytes
The term info stealer is self-explanatory. This type of malware resides in an infected computer and gathers data in order to send it to the attacker. Typical targets are credentials used in online banking services, social media sites, emails, or FTP accounts.
Info stealers may use many methods of data acquisition. The most common are:
hooking browsers (and sometimes other applications) and stealing credentials that are typed by the user using web injection scripts that are adding extra fields to web forms and submitting information from them to a server owned by the attacker form grabbing (finding specific opened windows and stealing their content) keylogging stealing passwords saved in the system and cookies Modern info stealers are usually parts of botnets. Sometimes the target of attack and related events are configured remotely by the command sent from the Command and Control server (C&C). Malwarebytes
DPRK APT actor tracked by Proofpoint as TA444 Malpedia
A dropper is a kind of Trojan that has been designed to "install" some sort of malware (virus, backdoor, etc.) to a target system. The malware code can be contained within the dropper (single-stage) in such a way as to avoid detection by virus scanners or the dropper may download the malware to the target machine once activated (two stage). Wikipedia
Malicious programs of this family secretly send information to the criminal from the user’s infected Android mobile device. Kaspersky
During a routine threat-hunting exercise, Cyble research labs discovered a dark web post where a malware developer was advertising a powerful Windows RAT. Cyble
The following threat detection(s) were improved this past week with new or updated threat methods.
| Name of threat | New coverage | Total coverage | Last updated | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Detection methods | Kill chain phases | Protocols involved | Detection methods | Kill chain phases | Protocols involved | ||
| APT 29 | 1 | command and control | http | 97 | actions on objectives, command and control | dns, ftp, http, tls | 2023-06-09 |
| APT DarkPink | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 2023-06-09 |
| APT38 | 2 | actions on objectives, command and control | http | 123 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-06-06 |
| Android Trojan Agent | 1 | command and control | dns | 187 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-06-10 |
| Banker Stealer | 3 | command and control | dns, tls | 239 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, smtp, tcp, tls | 2023-06-10 |
| Cobalt Strike | 1 | command and control | dns | 409 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, smb, tcp, tls, udp | 2023-06-09 |
| Gamaredon | 41 | command and control | dns | 358 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-06-07 |
| IIS-Raid | 2 | delivery, command and control | http | 4 | command and control, delivery | http | 2023-06-10 |
| LgoogLoader | 1 | installation | http | 1 | installation | http | 2023-06-09 |
| Operation Triangulation | 15 | command and control | dns | 15 | command and control | dns | 2023-06-09 |
| OxtaRAT | 3 | command and control | http | 5 | command and control | http | 2023-06-10 |
| Piom | 3 | command and control | http, dns | 43 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-06-10 |
| PureCrypter | 9 | delivery, command and control | http | 9 | delivery, command and control | http | 2023-06-09 |
| Realrat | 8 | command and control | dns, tls | 49 | command and control | dns, tls | 2023-06-10 |
| RedLine | 5 | installation, delivery, command and control | tcp, http | 56 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp | 2023-06-09 |
| SharpPanda | 2 | delivery, command and control | http | 10 | command and control, delivery | http | 2023-06-08 |
| SmsThief | 2 | command and control | dns, tls | 149 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls, udp | 2023-06-10 |
| SocGholish | 11 | command and control | dns | 326 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, reconnaissance | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-06-09 |
| Sogou | 5 | command and control, delivery | http, udp | 5 | command and control, delivery | http, udp | 2023-06-09 |
| Stealer and Exfiltration | 10 | actions on objectives, command and control | smtp, http | 331 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, installation | dns, ftp, http, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-06-09 |
| TA444 | 13 | command and control | dns | 331 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-06-09 |
| Trojan Dropper | 2 | delivery | dns, tls | 300 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tls, udp | 2023-06-10 |
| TrojanSpy-Android | 4 | command and control | dns, tls | 500 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-06-10 |
| WhiteSnake | 3 | command and control, actions on objectives | http | 5 | command and control, actions on objectives | http | 2023-06-09 |
| XWorm | 1 | delivery | http | 676 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt | 2023-06-09 |
| pswshopro_bot | 2 | command and control, actions on objectives | http | 2 | command and control, actions on objectives | http | 2023-06-09 |
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